Conventional access control systems provide security to areas of a building by utilizing readers associated with locking mechanisms to doors which control entry to such areas. Persons, such as employees, are provided with security badges having data accessible by the reader. Access decisions are made in accordance with security information stored at a central database in response to badge data read from the readers with or without a keypad entered pin number, or access decisions may be made by other databases associated with the readers. Examples of prior access control systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,839,640, and 4,218,690.
Many companies today have sites in different geographic regions, such as cities, states, or countries. To provide access control in each of the regions, early access control systems had a master computer system with a single central database containing all security information for the system, and each region used that central database in making access control decisions. Each of the regions was thus dependent on the central database, and if communication between the master computer system and a region was ever lost, access control in the region was severely degraded. More recently, each of the regions has their own system for security access control to areas of buildings at sites within that region, which may also provide managing of badges worn by personnel in the region. However, badges used in one region are often useless in other regions, since it is unlikely that badges have been associated with the security access systems of other regions. This is especially a problem for employees who work in more than one region, or travel to sites in other regions. Often such employees must be issued multiple badges in which each badge provides access to areas within a particular region. Thus, it would be desirable to provide access control system which enables a single badge to be used in multiple regions. However, as each region needs the capability to administer security access and badging for its own region, it is further desirable to provide such an access control system which allows each region to operate independently. Such independent operation is typically facilitated by each region utilizing its own database to maintain information used by the security access system of the region.
Further, information needed for managing badges in one region is unavailable to any other region. This may lead to security problems when changes in information made at one region affect access decisions to the areas which the personnel may enter or exit from. Thus, for example, if an employee is terminated in one region, the employee may be able to use one or more of his or her badges to access areas within other regions in which access had been established.
In addition, by using separate regional security access control systems, there is no readily available means for the headquarters (or main corporate office) of a company to monitor the operation of each region. Thus, the headquarters of a company typically cannot determine the status of security at any particular region or site. Furthermore, it is difficult for the headquarters to monitor the information being used to manage the badges of personnel in different regions, and to establish uniform procedures for generating badges in different regions.